Tendonitis is inflammation of the tendons that connect to your hand and wrist muscles. Carpal tunnel syndrome is an impingement of the median nerve that runs through your wrist.

Carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis are common overuse injuries. They can both cause discomfort around your hand and wrist.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is more likely to cause neurological symptoms like tingling or numbness in your fingers. Tendonitis is more likely to cause pain pinpointed to one of the tendons in your hand, fingers, or wrist.

Keep reading to learn more about the similarities and differences between these two conditions.

These are the most common symptoms of tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Tendonitis symptoms

Symptoms of tendonitis include:

  • pain over one of your tendons
  • trouble moving a joint
  • sounds like popping or snapping coming from your joint
  • joint warmth, weakness, or redness

Carpal tunnel symptoms

Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome usually get worse over time. They include:

  • numbness, tingling, or burning in your hand, thumb, and first three fingers
  • pain in your hand, thumb, or first three fingers
  • shock-like sensations in your fingers
  • hand weakness or clumsiness

Tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome are both typically overuse injuries.

Tendonitis causes and risk factors

Tendonitis usually develops from repetitive damage to one or more of your tendons. It’s common among athletes and people who are physically active. Other risk factors for tendon injuries include:

Working in certain settings and doing some activities may also increase your risk of hand or wrist tendonitis. These include:

  • typing
  • working in an assembly line
  • processing meat
  • manufacturing
  • knitting
  • playing piano
  • excessive texting or phone use

Carpal tunnel causes and risk factors

Carpal tunnel syndrome develops due to compression of the median nerve. Risk factors include:

  • being pregnant
  • having a small carpal tunnel due to genetics
  • performing repetitive flexing of your hand and wrist
  • having certain underlying health conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or diabetes

It’s a good idea to speak with a doctor if you develop pain or other concerning symptoms like numbness and tingling in your fingers that don’t go away after a couple of weeks. It’s also important to get medical attention if your symptoms get worse.

To start the diagnostic process, a doctor might:

  • ask about your symptoms
  • review your personal and family medical history
  • perform a physical exam

During a physical exam, a doctor might:

  • press against your hand and wrist
  • have you do certain movements
  • perform a test called Tinel’s sign, which involves pressing down or tapping along the median nerve
  • bend your wrists to test for neurological symptoms

Other tests might include:

These are the most common treatments for tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Tendonitis treatment

Tendonitis often gets better with home remedies, such as:

  • resting your tendon for 2 to 3 days
  • icing your tendon for up to 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours
  • compressing your wrist with an elastic bandage
  • taking over-the-counter pain relievers

A physiotherapist or another healthcare professional can help you build a workout program to safely regain strength.

Serious or chronic cases of tendonitis may need additional treatment like steroid injections or surgery.

Carpal tunnel treatment

You can usually treat carpal tunnel syndrome conservatively with:

If these treatments aren’t effective, your doctor may recommend surgery as a last resort.

Here’s a look at the recovery of tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Tendonitis recovery

It can often take 2 to 3 weeks to recover from mild tendonitis. It can take about 12 weeks to recover from hand tendon repair, but you may need 6 months to regain full mobility.

Carpal tunnel recovery

Carpal syndrome symptoms often improve after weeks of receiving treatment. If you have surgery, you may need 6 to 12 months to regain full sensation in your fingertips.

You may be able to reduce your risk of developing tendonitis by:

  • warming up before exercise and stretching after
  • using proper sports equipment, like a well-fitting racket
  • working with a sports coach or personal trainer to improve your technique
  • taking regular breaks from repetitive exercise
  • slowly building up your exercise volume instead of increasing suddenly

You may be able to reduce your risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome by:

  • taking frequent breaks from wrist activity
  • changing your keyboard or mouse
  • stretching your wrist throughout the day
  • seeing a doctor early if you develop wrist pain
  • improving your wrist posture

These are some frequently asked questions people have about tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Can tendonitis cause tingling in the hands?

Tendonitis can cause tingling if swelling around a tendon pushes on one of your nerves.

Can carpal tunnel be misdiagnosed as tendonitis?

Carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis are both common. In some cases, they may be misdiagnosed for each other.

What’s the difference between carpal tunnel and tendonitis vs. arthritis?

Arthritis is a group of conditions that cause swelling or tenderness in a joint. Tendonitis is inflammation of a tendon. Carpal tunnel syndrome is compression of the median nerve in the underside of your wrist.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is compression of your median nerve. It commonly causes pain and tingling in your wrist and fingers. Tendonitis is inflammation of one of the tendons of your wrist and is usually caused by repetitive physical stress.

In many cases, both conditions can be treated conservatively. Surgery is usually reserved for serious cases.